The final shot was clearly short, hitting the front of the rim. Gan Guoyang turned and secured the rebound, then steadily pushed forward for the counterattack.
At halftime, the Trail Blazers led the Spurs 48:41, a 7-point lead, with both teams scoring relatively low.
During the break, Gan Guoyang complained about the current trend in the league, saying, "The three-point line was clearly shortened, yet the pace of the game has been dragged so slowly. The league is intentionally increasing the intensity, making the offense sluggish. They’re lenient with calls on static confrontations, not blowing for screen violations, pushing, or elbowing. But when the pace picks up, they blow fouls like crazy—are they trying to suppress fast breaks intentionally?"
Bird said, "Fans like to watch intense games. Who wants to see both sides endlessly throwing three-pointers? I doubt the shorter three-point line will last long."
Gan Guoyang said, "I like defense, but this constipation-like style of play is frustrating. We should be more aggressive."
Bird said, "I think so too, but offense is Rick’s department. You should discuss more with him during practice; it’s not my concern."
Rick Carlisle is the Trail Blazers’ offensive coach. Every time there’s a timeout to adjust the offense, Bird would let Carlisle draw the plays.
Anyway, Bird didn’t want to draw, wouldn’t draw, and didn’t want to learn. He feared he’d regret becoming a head coach even more if he learned how to draw plays.
Carlisle and Dick Hart’s division of labor at work greatly reduced Bird’s pressure and allowed him to focus on what he’s better at.
"Discuss more with Rick? Then what use are you?"
"I play a role in supervision, summarizing, and decision-making. You have to trust my intuition."
"Do you have more championships than I do?"
"Sonny, can’t we stop talking about championships?"
"Then are you more handsome than I am?"
"You’re handsome, my ass. Anyone with 7 championships, several MVPs, and over a hundred million US Dollars would look handsome."
The two were chatting and joking in the locker room office, and before long, they were arguing again.
Outside, Rick Carlisle and Dick Hart were setting up tactics.
Actually, there wasn’t much to say about playing against the Spurs. The Spurs had no real fighting spirit.
Greg Anderson faced Ah Gan with 0-for-3 in the first half, got blocked twice, and dared not shoot anymore.
Elliot, affected by injuries, was in mediocre form; he probably wouldn’t last much longer before needing a break.
However, the significance of the regular season is to find chemistry and methods during the game, and Carlisle was diligently conveying the coaching staff’s intentions to the young players.
Recently, the three of them often held meetings. Carlisle believed that with so many strong individual players on the team, they might consider playing a more free and fluid offense.
But what exactly this kind of offense was, Carlisle was also learning and exploring. He hoped to discuss these issues with the players.
Unlike Bird’s relaxed nature, Carlisle was much more serious, most of the time being very serious and attentive to his image and words.
Personality was one aspect, and another was that Carlisle hadn’t been in coaching for long; he needed to maintain an image to make it easier for future job opportunities.
Bird had made it clear that he wouldn’t coach beyond three years. Dick Hart, a veteran in the coaching circle, didn’t have to worry about future development, making them both more casual.
Among the players, some listened intently, while others drank water absentmindedly. In fact, understanding tactics was not easy for many NBA players.
Many black players relied on instinct for playing. They needed coaches to constantly instruct and correct them on the practice court and played a segment on the court relying on muscle and neural memory.
Over time, everyone began to play erratically, requiring the coach to call a timeout and redeploy to stabilize the team.
The tactical board wasn’t really understood; it was mainly about taking a sip of water to calm down and let the body regain its memory.
Returning to the game, trying to find the familiar feelings from practice again, so training was extremely important.
In-game when drawing tactics, many also couldn’t understand.
Gan Guoyang very much agreed with Carlisle’s idea. Back in 92 and 93 when the Trail Blazers played, the team already had a sense of free offense.
Many times they didn’t need Beelman to arrange plays, as soon as the players got the ball on the court, they knew how to pass, move, and play.
This was similar to the Triangle Offense, where everyone became one on the court, flowing with the ball according to principles, penetrating the opponent’s defense to find offensive opportunities.
Once an opportunity appeared, they immediately went on the offensive, scoring points.
Back then, the Trail Blazers relied on this smooth offense, integrating the essence of European and American basketball, to continually create miracles and win games.
Unfortunately, this kind of "defeating moves without moves" strategy required a suitable lineup and a lot of honing, demanding coaches and players to have sufficient patience and rapport, with plenty of learning, communication, and correction, resulting in a slow effect.
Unlike fixed routines, which could be drawn on a tactical board, different teams with different configurations could adjust and run according to this route, proving highly effective if suited to the situation.
Therefore, in the current basketball world, the mainstream is still those complex and ingenious fixed tactical routines, with hundreds of sets commonly used in the league.
Carlisle had discussed with Bird whether to practice his ideal of fluid offense, and Bird immediately agreed to give it a try.
He said, "Great teams in NBA history ultimately end up on the same path. If our goal is greatness, we should walk this path."